Our family has just done the whole back-to-school/back-to-college routine.  Like many of you, this routine, along with the appearance of backpacks and kids waiting for school buses, gets me thinking about what lies ahead, as well as to-do lists.  However, back-to-school also means catching up with friends to find out what they did over the summer – the drives up north, trips with family and friends, and visits to entirely new places.

It’s the same with the Association – so before we dive right in to what lies ahead, here’s a recap of how we spent our summer:

Even though the official start of summer was three weeks away, June 1st marked the first day of the summer Region Meetings.  Doug Beardsley, VP of Member Services, traveled around the state to update members on highlights from the legislative session and its impact on long-term care.  Doug also talked about the most common deficiencies being cited in nursing facilities and licensing orders being issued to Class F home care agencies.

Speaking of traveling . . . a group of us traveled to Washington D.C. in the first part of June to meet with members of Congress.  This annual trek to the nation’s capitol gave Care Providers of Minnesota members, as well as members from other state associations, the opportunity to meet with leaders to talk about older adult services at a national level.

July was the month for decisions and honors, as the Recognition Committee read over nominations for 14 award categories.  This was the first time the Association went “green” – with the entire award process, from description to application, going paperless.  The Recognition Committee also changed the competition requirements, requiring supporting documents for nearly all award categories.  The result will be 18 awards to be handed out to exceptional recipients at the annual convention in November.

July also gave us a perfect excuse to dress up in flashy outfits – okay, it gave us the excuse to go golfing.  And since this year’s theme was “superhero,” we were out on the Lakeville golf course, raising funds for the Foundation, dressed as wonder woman.  (Actually, there was only one Wonder Woman, and you looked great, Patti), but there were others out there who also dressed – or at least acted – the part of a superhero.

MDS 3.0 has dominated some beautiful warm-weather days as, over the course of the summer, all-day seminars were presented to members to help ensure a successful transition to MDS 3.0.

The Long-Term Care Imperative continued to meet – despite 90-degree temperatures – as we plan and prepare for the upcoming legislative session.  With a $6 billion deficit facing us, we remain mindful of what continues to be at stake, and prepare for the swell of baby boomers that will need care in the future.

Of course, in our downtime, there’s been plenty to do with Health Care Reform, FMAP, the CLASS Act and the upcoming elections.  We’ve spent a few mornings and afternoons meeting with gubernatorial candidates – first to make sure they are aware of older adult services issues, and more recently, to educate the three candidates about what we see as needed changes in long-term care through public investment, personal responsibility, and administrative alignment.

Talk about a slow summer!  Now it’s time to really get busy, right? (smile)

Gail Sheridan
gsheridan@careproviders.org

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